Veni, vidi, VICERO - But where to start?

When asking which Virtual World to use for educational purposes, people most often want to hear a one- sentence answer. Frequently the question leads to a discussion that can be compared to a debate about religion: you cannot be too sure which side you will choose but you are easily doomed from the beginning if you pick the wrong side (or in this case, platform).

To help educators pick the right Virtual World platform we have developed a Scoring Model and Criteria Catalogue which support choosing the most suitable platform for teaching purposes. Educators can use the Scoring Model to rate the criteria based on their respective demand. The Scoring Model will then suggest a Virtual World platform from a “long list” and instruct the educator how to install/use/maintain the platform. Thus educators will not be left alone with their choice and will get a motivational hint where to start and where to seek support. The “long list” is monitored and updated regularly so that selections are always up-to-date.

Workshop participants will be able to get a hands-on demonstration and to test Virtual Worlds and Environments on their own but under supervision. They will also get the story behind VICERO and be able to give input for further development of the scoring model.

StoryTec: Authoring adaptive cross-platform games

In this workshop we will present the Authoring Tool StoryTec, which allows subject-matter-experts without programming experience to create games based on their domain knowledge. With one possible application being teachers who want to present their lecture in a novel way, it offers the possibility to create games which adapt themselves according to the player’s knowledge or preferred style of play. In order to maintain ease of use StoryTec contains predefined templates, which the author can fill with his own content without needing to create the underlying structure himself. A recent update added minigames such as memory or puzzles and the ability to export the created game to multiple platforms like Windows, Mac, Android and Websites. The Workshop will include hands-on-exercises for which participants are encouraged to bring their own content like texts and images. We will also gather feedback and suggestions regarding new features, which will be considered for further versions of the Authoring Tool.

A laptop with Windows (Vista or Windows 7 preferred) is needed for participation. We also strongly encourage participants to bring their own game ideas and assets (images, sounds, etc.). StoryTec can be found at http://www.storytec.de for experimenting before the workshop.